The Prince's Pauper
by Mister Kitty
Summary: Francis is a young prince who believes in perfection. Alfred is a foreign pauper hired to kidnap the prince in a desperate need to pay off his debts and teach the royals about the harsh realities of the conditions in their kingdom. What happens between the prince and the pauper was something neither expected, but when is love ever expected? FrUs. AU.


To say that all things in this world was perfect and fair was vain and silly for anyone with common sense, but for Francis, he felt as if everything was exactly as it should be. He was a prince with a sizable fortune that could most likely buy the neighboring country without putting much of a strain on his funds or of the kingdom's. His popularity was high and he possessed such talents and beauty, it did indeed appear as if he was an angel sent from the gods to grace all those who gazed upon the pure blue of his eyes and the shining gold of his silky hair. The young prince simply had the best of everything.

The year was, as always, a wonderful one for the royal family. Many balls, feasts, and celebrations took place so often that it was more common for parties to happen without any announcement and even without alerting the chefs for proper preparation. Luckily for the chefs, the guests didn't seem to mind the lateness of a meal as long as they received plenty of the king's personal wine from the finest of his wineries.

Men and women of ages young and old attended these events, during which they would drink, feast, dance, and adore the king and the queen, and of course the golden prince who would someday be their ruler after his father's mournful death of old age. Although upon thinking such things the people would solemnly and sometimes cheerfully chant, "May His Majesty live as long as God would allow."

Today was of little difference, except for this time there was an important reason for a celebration. One that had been planned for weeks and had absolutely no costs spared on the décor, rare vintage wines, golden plates and utensils, fresh sweetmeats, and not to mention brand new jeweled wardrobes for everyone in attendance, even the servants who served the food would be dressed from head to toe in richness which resembled that of a modestly fortuned lord. What was the occasion? Only everyone in the kingdom knew. The smallest child could tell you in broken words that today was the prince's twenty first birthday.

With all the work and flustered servants running around preparing the last few tasks that were needing to be finished in a moment of moments, the dark hooded stranger lurking on the outsides of the walls of the beautifully built castle went seemingly unnoticed by the busy and somewhat careless guards whose job it was to protect the opened gates at the entrance during what would be the biggest bash of the year, next to Christmas, of course. Whoever the stranger may have been, they just simply disappeared among the crowds and the numerous horse drawn carriages that crowded the streets, no suspicions were aroused and no incidents were reported.

"Oh, my! So many people have come to celebrate me!" Francis gushed, as he stared down from his window down below at the arrival of his guests, an embroidered handkerchief held in between his slender fingers. "Isn't this wonderful?! This is going to be the greatest night of my entire life!" His cheeks flushed from the thought of the luxuries and pleasures he would enjoy with this night long party. "I'm so happy to be me!"

Arthur, a loyal friend and personally appointed guard to the prince, stood in the room with a slight frown. He wasn't as an excitable man as Francis was, but rather more of a man with a bit of a gruffness and criticalness that balanced the two men out. "Yes, I suppose it might be.." he answered blankly, inhaling and then exhaling, his boots tapping on the floor as he walked over towards the window to peer out along with the prince. "I don't like how many people are coming this time around, it can pose a security threat, you know. Just because everything is well here, it doesn't mean that no one means your family harm, after all being in the royal family can mean danger around enemies," he ranted, knowing full well Francis would not listen to his many lectures of the day.

The royal prince only shrugged and laughed, tossing his handkerchief into Arthur's deathly serious face. "Arthur, please, don't be so such a downer. When was the last time that our security has ever been breached, hm? I am safe. We are all safe. There are no enemies or anything like that. Everyone loves us. All of them, even the dirty foreigners at our borders, no?"

Arthur grimaced at the last words that Francis spoke, after all he was a foreigner in this land too, a land of which that disregarded non-citizens with every possible chance. Those were the same people who could be deemed as an enemy to the crown. Hell, even the poor of the country might cause some sort of an uprising for all they knew. Nothing was ever perfect, Arthur knew this fully well. "Whatever you say. I can't get through that thick head of yours, anyway."

"I don't know why I let you talk to me that way," huffed Francis, crossing his arms, while he pouted. "No one else would ever dare, but then again it makes you look like a silly idiot, so maybe for entertainment, even though you sucked at being a jester and a cook, and a.."

"May I be excused now? I have things that need to be attended to before I escort you to the party," Arthur said, nearly hissing at Francis for bringing old things up, things that he had tried to forget ever since he climb through the ranks of servants within the castle. "I believe you and I have nothing of great importance to talk about right now, even though we hardly ever do in the first place."

"Go if you must," Francis sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I'll just check myself over and wait for you to return."

Arthur nodded and bowed politely to the young prince and then silently left the room. His fears and doubts of the love of Francis's people still plagued at his thoughts, but there was literally nothing he could do. No one paid much heed to his warning of the real opposition of the common people of the kingdom. These royals and nobles were spending everything on themselves, and not on those who needed the help the most. Darker days were surely coming. He could feel it stirring around every corner.

A lone figure walked down the massive hallways towards the private rooms of the east wing of the castle. He wasn't a servant, nor was he an invited guest. While he was noticed by a few blushing, young maids, he went forward with his impending business. He had one certain prince to collect. This would be a party no one would forget, for the golden prince would never arrive.

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**A/N: My very first FrUs fanfiction, let's just see how this goes. Please review. **


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